Tech glitch fixed, but flight delays might continue

There is finally some relief for air travelers as operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport began stabilising on Saturday morning. This comes after a massive technical glitch on Friday threw air traffic across India into chaos, affecting hundreds of passengers, including those on connecting flights from states like Odisha.

Airport authorities have confirmed that the critical issue affecting the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) is gradually being resolved. The AMSS is a vital component of Air Traffic Control that manages flight planning.

On Friday, Delhi Airport, which typically handles over 1,500 flight movements daily, witnessed severe disruptions. The tech failure led to delays for more than 800 flights and caused at least 20 cancellations, leaving terminals crowded and passengers stranded.

In an early morning advisory on Saturday, airport officials assured passengers that all agencies are working hard to minimise inconvenience. However, they have strongly urged travellers to stay in touch with their respective airlines for the most current flight schedules before heading to the airport.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) confirmed late Friday that the technical snag had been fixed. "The AMSS systems are up and functional now. Due to some backlogs, there may be some delays in the normal functioning of automated operations, but the situation will be normal soon," the AAI stated.

Budget carrier IndiGo also issued a statement, noting that while the outage is fixed, some departure and arrival timings might still be adjusted due to the residual backlog. They have asked passengers to track their flight status to avoid hassles at the terminal.

The disruption, which began late Thursday, forced air traffic controllers to switch to manual operations, significantly slowing down the process and causing a ripple effect of delays across domestic and international routes.